A Foiled Plan?
by Driftingthought
Summary: After Pikachu is taken, Ash finds himself way over his head.  Giovanni is using Mewtwo to create a Pokémon army capable of world domination.  Will Ash be able to defeat Giovanni even though he has Mewtwo by his side?  One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful anime/manga Pokémon.**

**A/N: Finished this story in April of 2009. I think this is one of my best stories (aside from the one I'm currently working on) Please read, rate, and review! Rated K+ for fight scenes.**

* * *

><p><strong>A Foiled Plan?<strong>

Training was one of Ash's favorite things to do, but he preferred to train without anyone else around. Which was why Ash was alone in the Viridian Forest, training Pikachu since he had already practiced attacks with the rest of his Pokémon. The clearing Ash was standing in was ridden with burnt grass, soaked earth, upside-down bushes, and deeply scarred rocks.

"Use Thunderbolt on that tree!" Ash shouted. His faithful pal obeyed, Pikachu's body becoming illuminated with electricity. The rodent let loose such a powerful attack that it caused the entire clearing to light up, its bright shine so fierce that Ash had to cover his eyes.

Pikachu chittered happily at the power of his attacks.

"Okay, now use—Pikachu, are you all right?"

Pikachu's body has frozen. Like a rag doll, the rodent was lifted up into the air.

Ash looked around for a Psychic Pokémon that could be controlling his friend. He saw nothing. "Pikachu!" Ash jumped into the air and tried to grab his buddy, but as though being tied to a rope, the Electric Pokémon was yanked backward.

Ash tried everything he could think of. He tried to call to Pikachu, have Bulbasaur pull Pikachu back down to the ground, and even tried to return the rodent. Everything failed. Depressed and out of options, Ash could only watch as Pikachu slowly floated farther and farther from sight, even though he tried so hard to keep up.

After five minutes of continuous sprinting, Ash finally had a thought to release Pidgeotto and have the bird Pokémon follow his friend. Pidgeotto instantly took to Pikachu's trail, and Ash, now rejuvenated, followed.

The two eventually arrived at a seemingly deserted building. After thanking Pidgeotto and returning the Pokémon, Ash entered the building. A bright light shone from the ceiling, and he had to wait a few seconds for his vision to adjust.

"Good job, Mewtwo. Looks like we have another Pokémon."

_Yes, Giovanni_, a voice said said.

Ash squinted, trying to see what was on the other side of the building. Even though the light he was standing under was incredibly powerful, whoever had just spoken was in the shadows. "Where's Pikachu?" he demanded.

Blue eyes glowed, and Ash saw that his beloved Pokémon was trapped in what looked like a box made of glass. The creature who was holding Pikachu hostage was a strange-looking one. The creature looked like a cat with a large tail.

He looked back at Pikachu. Ash couldn't hear Pikachu's cries, but from the way Pikachu looked, Ash knew the rodent was deeply worried. "Why did you capture Pikachu?" Ash wondered.

"My Pokémon, Mewtwo, has just begun sweeping the region, collecting Pokémon. He and I are going to form an army capable of taking over the world. I could simply use Mewtwo to take over the world, but it is much easier to take control of the earth if all of its resistance is already in your grasp."

"How many Pokémon have you already stolen?" Ash asked.

"Only one trainer's, but I will collect more."

"Who's the trainer?" Ash said.

"Another boy, like yourself. Just like you, he is in this gym. He already tried to get his Pokémon back, but Mewtwo put a stop to his attempts."

"Well, I'm not gonna let you rule the world," Ash said. He enlarged two Poké Balls and threw them into the air. They soared upward but didn't make their normal opening sound. In fact, both Poké Balls landed on the ground with a dull thud, not moving an inch. "What's wrong?"

"Mewtwo is stopping your Poké Ball mechanisms from opening," Giovanni replied. "I don't want to battle your Pokémon; I want to use them for my own purposes." He snapped his fingers, and Mewtwo's psychic powers brought both Poké Balls up to where he was sitting.

"Give those back!" Ash yelled.

Giovanni laughed. "You think I would listen to a kid like you? Mewtwo, Psychic."

Incredible pain hit Ash like a Tauros's Take Down. He vision blacked out before knew what was happening.

* * *

><p>Ash woke to find himself in a metal cage. He groaned and sat up, wondering how long he had been out of it.<p>

"Took you long enough."

Ash recognized the voice instantly. He turned around, wishing he were still unconscious. "Gary. I didn't know Mewtwo captured your Pokémon."

"He'll steal any Pokémon to form his army, but I didn't think he'd bother with _your_ Pokémon."

Ash gritted his teeth. In this serious of a situation, his rival still had the nerve to insult him? "How are we gonna get our Pokémon back?"

"First we have to get out of here. Were you able to salvage any of your Pokémon?" Gary said.

Ash checked his belt and backpack. "I don't have any Pokémon. Mewtwo took them all. What about you?"

"I was only able to keep one," Gary said.

"How?" Ash said.

"I guess Mewtwo thought he had gotten all of them," he said, letting a Poké Ball roll from his hand.

"If you had a Pokémon all this time, why haven't you tried to get out already?" Ash said.

"I just became conscious," Gary said. "Since I knew I'd be saving your skin, I decided to wait until you woke up."

"What Pokémon did you keep?"

Gary shrugged. He enlarged the Poké Ball and dropped it outside the cage. A dog Pokémon emerged, panting and wagging his tail. "Arcanine."

"Can he get us out of here?" Ash said.

Gary scoffed. "Are you a loser? Of course he can! Arcanine, use Flamethrower on the south side of the cage."

Even though Ash was as far away from the flames as possible, the fire still made his face burn. He expected to see the metal turn to water but was disappointed when the metal simply turned bright orange. "Now what?"

"Tackle," Gary said.

Arcanine rushed the still-hot metal. The moment the dog Pokémon crashed into the cage the metal bent inward, creating a space large enough for both trainers to get through.

"How are we supposed to take down Mewtwo?"

"Before you woke up, Giovanni walked down here to check on us and make sure we were still knocked-out. I pretended to be unconscious, and when he left, I saw him go up those stairs. Maybe that's where Giovanni and Mewtwo were sitting when we first saw them," Gary said, pointing to what he meant.

Ash saw at least five dozen stairs spiraling upward and out of sight. "But what's the chance that we could get our Pokémon from Giovanni without him or Mewtwo spotting us?"

"Not too good, but I don't have any other ideas," Gary said. "Are you in?"

"I don't have a choice. Let's go."

The two sneaked up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible while making sure they didn't fall off the steps. They finally got to the top of the staircase, creeping up to the door as quietly as they could.

". . .search the southern part of the region. Soon I will be the master of Earth."

Ash opened the door. Giovanni was on what seemed like a fairly big platform. Giovanni was sitting in a chair, Mewtwo on his right. The Poké Balls were on Giovanni's left, and Pikachu was next to the small pile of Poké Balls. The rodent's ears were down. Ash wanted to grab Pikachu so badly it hurt, but he knew if he rushed up to Giovanni and Mewtwo, both he and Gary would be destroyed.

"I'm going to check on those kids again."

Both Ash and Gary exchanged looks of pure horror. They backtracked as fast as they could, barely being able to close the door and hide before Giovanni threw the door open and started walking down the stairs. Once Giovanni disappeared, Ash jumped from his hiding place behind a box. Gary had been hiding behind a beam that held the building up.

"We have to get our Pokémon now," Gary mouthed.

Ash nodded. Knowing they had only seconds, they both hid behind Giovanni's giant chair, grabbing whatever Poké Balls they could get their hands on while making sure Mewtwo didn't spot them.

Ash enlarged five Poké Balls, and was about to release all his Pokémon when he heard Giovanni's voice.

"Mewtwo!" Giovanni bellowed. "The kids have escaped! Find them and destroy them!"

As Mewtwo saw them behind the chair, Ash dropped all five of his Poké Balls. Only two of the Pokémon were actually his.

"Nidoqueen, Quick Attack. Nidoking, Horn Attack. Arcanine, Flamethrower," Gary commanded, dropping the three Poké Balls he had been able to snag.

"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip. Pidgeotto, Gust," Ash said. "Butterfree, you use Gust, too. Squirtle, Water Gun. Charmander, use Flamethrower on that psychic container. Try and break Pikachu free!"

Eight Pokémon sprang into action. Mewtwo deflected all of their attacks as if they were nothing more than dust particles. Charmander had been able to get Pikachu free, who was now in the battle, also.

Giovanni burst into the scene, barely stopping short of the now fierce battle. "Mewtwo, Psychic!"

Five of the eight Pokémon were lifted into the air and thrown backward. Giovanni laughed. "Give up! It's over!"

"Arcanine, use Tackle on Mewtwo!"

"Mewtwo, Confusi—"

Though Gary didn't mean for it to happen, Arcanine used a Tackle on Giovanni instead of on Mewtwo. Giovanni stumbled and fell off the platform, the building's floor rushing up to meet him. Giovanni shouted for Mewtwo to catch him. Mewtwo extended a hand and stopped Giovanni in his tracks.

"Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!" Ash said.

Pidgeotto dived. Mewtwo was so intent on saving Giovanni that he didn't have a shield up. As Pidgeotto hit Mewtwo, something strange happened.

The bird Pokémon went through Mewtwo's body.

"I can't believe it," Ash said. "It's-it's a—"

"Mewtwo's a hologram?" Gary finished, sounding astounded.

As Mewtwo's body disappeared, so did the psychic hold on Giovanni. Giovanni barely made it to the platform, brushing himself of as he got to his feet.

"Yes," Giovanni said. "Mewtwo is a hologram."

"What do you mean?" Ash wondered.

"I created a holographic image of Mewtwo to prevent any trainer from standing up to me," Giovanni said. "I wanted to use this 'Mewtwo' to create a Pokémon army so it would be too late by the time anyone found out that the Pokémon I had wasn't Mewtwo."

"So what Pokémon was causing the Psychic attacks?" Gary asked.

Giovanni snapped his fingers. A Kadabra walked out of the shadows.

"It's only a Kadabra," Gary said, relieved.

" 'Only a Kadabra'?" Ash said. "Kadabras are really strong!"

"Yeah, but they're nothing compared to Mewtwo," Gary said. "At least we still have a chance."

"That makes sense. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash said.

Electricity engulfed Kadabra for a few seconds before the Pokémon put up his own shield.

"Keep attacking! We can break through Kadabra's defenses!" Gary yelled.

"Charmander, Flamethrower! Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf! Squirtle, Water Gun! Pikachu, keep at your Thunderbolt! Pidgeotto, both you and Butterfree use Quick Attack! Whatever you do, don't stop battling."

"Arcanine, you use Fire Blast!" Gary shouted. "Nidoking, Tackle, and you, Nidoqueen, Double Kick!"

Ash could tell that the relentlessness of his Pokémon was weakening Kadabra. He told all his Pokémon to go full power.

The shield broke a few seconds later. The combination of attacks caused a huge explosion that caused everyone to get knocked off their feet.

When the smoke cleared, Kadabra was unconscious. Giovanni was furious. The building itself was shaking.

Giovanni disappeared into the door Ash and Gary had entered the room by.

Ash grabbed Pidgeotto's feet, the bird Pokémon quickly flapping him to the lower level of the building.

Gary had Nidoking catch him as he jumped from the platform. "Let's get out of here!"

Ash obliged, matching Gary's run step for step.

They barely made it outside the building before the structure completely collapsed.

"That was a close one," Ash said.

"Yeah. I can't believe that Mewtwo was actually a Kadabra that Giovanni was controlling," Gary said.

"I wonder if he made it out," Ash said.

Gary shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just glad that _I _made it out."

"What about me?" Ash said.

"You don't matter."

Ash rolled his eyes. "We barely got out before the building collapsed."

"I could've gotten out without your help."

"Without my Pokémon, you wouldn't have been able to take down Kadabra!" Ash said.

"But without me being there, you'd still be stuck in that cage," Gary sneered.

"I would have been able to get out somehow. Besides, if Pidgeotto hadn't used Quick Attack on Mewtwo, you wouldn't have known that Mewtwo was a hologram!" Ash said.

"The only reason your Pidgeotto was able to even come near Mewtwo is because Arcanine made Giovanni fall off that platform!"

The two kept arguing, neither one knowing that, by defeating Giovanni, they had saved thousands of Pokémon from forming an army, stopped hundreds of humans from being captured, and, in retrospect, saved the world.

*The End*


End file.
